What is Health? What is Fitness?

It’s important to know why we train and what it is doing for us. But before we do that, before i educate you on the fitness philosophies of Richlife, we need to define what health is and what fitness is. Are they the same? Are the lines blurred between the two? Can you be healthy without being fit and can you be fit without being healthy? Below some of these questions will be answered, my theories are up for debate and open to interpretation but they are coming from a life of trial and error, education, an 11 year profession and a lifelong passion in fitness.

If you google the definition of fitness you will get a variety of wishy washy statements. The best definition i have found is by Crossfit founder Greg Glassman who defines fitness as ‘Your work capacity across broad and modal domains’. For me fitness is simply completion of a physical task; lifting that weight, running that distance, completing 50 burpees. The more efficient you are at completing these tasks the fitter you are, as the tasks increase in difficulty so will your fitness.

Fitness can be broken down into 10 components: Strength, speed, power, flexibility, stamina, cardio/respiratory endurance, accuracy, agility, balance, co-ordination. I believe that if you are well rounded over these 10 areas then fitness is achieved. It used to be thought that the fittest athletes in the world were triathletes, Ironman, marathon runners, but that only covers a couple components of fitness. Put an ironman in an endurance test and they crush, give them a strength/power/speed/flexibility test and they probably stumble. This is why Richlife focus’s on ‘general physical preparedness’ or ‘base fitness’ so we are well rounded over all 10 components of fitness to enable us the ability to handle any task that life and our sports throw at us. For a more in depth read i recommend reading the Crossfit journal article ‘What is Fitness’ https://journal.crossfit.com/article/what-is-fitness .

So if fitness is completion of a physical task, what is health? Google tells us it is the state of being free from injury and illness. For me this is nowhere near good enough. I know many people free of injury and illness who are far from healthy. I believe health to be the complete balance of physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual well-being. You can be a beast in the gym but suffering from depression, fit but not healthy. You could be a social butterfly who freely experiences and expresses joy, love, fear, pain but you could be a couch potato who struggles to walk up the stairs…healthy? It is the balance between these five elements that dictates your health, your vitality, your vest for life. Is it easy to get balanced in these areas, HELL NO, they’re constantly fluctuating, rising and falling like ocean tides. But the constant work of attempting the balancing act is where the magic happens, where you experience what it is to be alive. The highs the lows, the struggles and achievements. If you keep working towards the balance you are on the right track, if you can evaluate when you are sinking in one area and bring it back up then you are setting yourself up for a healthy and fulfilling life.

When you understand what health is you realize the fitness is just a small piece of the pie. To be healthy it’s not just how many burpees you can do, it’s the quality of your relationships, it’s your connection to something higher than yourself, it’s challenging your brain with difficult tasks, it’s noticing your anger and how to use it’s powerful energy for good. BUT….the beauty of the PHYSICAL (Richlife’s primary focus) is that it is the catalyst for all the others. If you are physical challenging yourself surrounded by other like minded people (social) then your mental improves, your emotions can get channeled and that 100th Richzilla might give you a spiritual connection to your soul. The physical is the cornerstone, the foundation for health, the life force that sets the ball rolling for your complete well being.

Can you be fit without being healthy? I think yes. Can you be healthy without being fit? I think no. Richlife was designed to improve more than just the physical, it’s a platform to create a well rounded rich life. Some of the pillars of Richlife have been neglected. Yoga classes have ceased, socials have been postponed. My goal is to improve in these areas, to give Richlifers more opportunities to fill in other pieces of the pie. I finally feel the COVID hangover clearing and my energy is coming back, i hope to make Richlife better for all involved.